scholarly journals “Furry tales”: pet ownership’s influence on subjective well-being during Covid-19 times

Author(s):  
Svenja Damberg ◽  
Lena Frömbling

AbstractThe social distancing required during Covid-19 times tended to make people feel lonelier than usual. Those with pets might, however, have experienced this less, because pets are known for fostering their owners’ subjective well-being. Building on a recently published structural equation model, our study enhances the understanding of subjective well-being by including the construct social distancing during Covid-19 times. In order to answer our research question—How does human-pet relationship need support influence subjective well-being by considering social isolation during Covid-19 times?—we build on the basic needs theory, assuming that humans as well as their pets have an inherent need of autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Using a multivariate data analysis method, namely partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), we establish a path model and examine the relationship between human-pet relationship need support and subjective well-being by including psychological distress and social isolation during Covid-19 times as mediators. We operationalize subjective well-being as a three-dimensional construct consisting of positive affect, happiness, and life satisfaction. In a sample of 215 pet owners in the USA, supporting their need increases subjective well-being, and decreases the psychological distress and loneliness caused by social isolation during Covid-19 times. Furthermore, psychological distress decreases subjective well-being, whereas perceived loneliness during Covid-19 times does not. Our main contributions are to not only enhance our knowledge on the importance of human-pet relationships in critical times, but also to provide policy makers with insights into what influences people’s subjective well-being, which is closely related to their psychological health.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Auditya Purwandini Sutarto ◽  
Shanti Wardaningsih ◽  
Wika Harisa Putri

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore to what extent employees' mental well-being affects their productivity while working from home (WFH) during the COVID-19 crisis and whether mental well-being and productivity differ across some socio-demographic factors.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional study with online questionnaires was designed with 472 valid responses in Indonesia. Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and Individual Work Performance Questionnaire (IWPQ) were administered. Non-parametric tests and structural equation modeling were employed to analyze the data.FindingsThe prevalence of depression was 18.4%, anxiety 46.4% and stress 13.1%, with relatively good productivity. Gender, age, education level, job experiences, marital status, number of children and nature of the organization were associated with the employees' psychological health but not with their productivity, while the workspace availability influenced both outcomes. The study path model showed the negative correlation between WFH employees' psychological well-being and productivity.Research limitations/implicationsThis study may contribute to the implication of current mandatory WFH on mental well-being and productivity. Further studies need to address the representativeness and generalizability issues as well as incorporating potential stressors.Practical implicationsOrganizations may adopt WFH as a future working arrangement and identify the individual and occupational characteristics that provide the most impacts on productivity. It is also necessary for them to develop proper strategies to mitigate the psychological risks and overcome the WFH challenges.Originality/valueThere is still a lack of studies investigating the relationship between simultaneous effects of WFH on psychological well-being and productivity, and how they affect some socio-demographic variables in the context of COVID-19.


GIS Business ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 156-162
Author(s):  
Dr. D. Shoba ◽  
Dr. G. Suganthi

Work-Life balance has its importance from ancient days and the concept is very old, from the day the world has been created. There was a drastic change that has occurred in the market of teachers and their personal profiles. There are tremendous changes in various families which have bartered from the ‘breadwinner’ role of traditional men to single parent families and dual earning couples. This study furnishes an insight into work life balance and job satisfaction of teachers working in School of Villupuram District. The sample comprises of 75 school teachers from Government and private schools in Villupuram District. The Study results that there is increasing mediating evidence in Work-life balance as well as Job satisfaction of teachers are not affected by the type of school in which they are working. Job satisfaction or Pleasure of life will be affected as a whole by Work life balance of an individual which is the main which can be calculated by construct of subjective well being.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 319-320
Author(s):  
Xiaoyan Zhang ◽  
Merril Silverstein

Abstract China is experiencing a large increase in elderly population. In 2019, China’s population aged 60 and above had reached 253 million, accounting for 18.1% of the total population (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2020). By 2050, the number of adults aged 60+ would be up to 430 million, reaching one third of the total population (Du, Zhai & Chen, 2005). Considering such a rapid aging process and the existing large number of older adults in China, it becomes imperative to investigate how psychosocial factors affect this group’s subjective well-being. This study proposed that, among older adults, higher support received from each of the three relational sources (adult children, family and friends) were associated with reduced loneliness and improved well-being. Structural equation modeling was conducted using a sample of rural adults aged 60 and older (N= 1142) from the 2018 wave of data from the Longitudinal Study of Older Adults in Anhui Province, China. Findings indicated that support from adult children directly and indirectly decreased older adults’ depression and improved their life satisfaction through loneliness; while support from family members directly decreased depression but did not directly improve life satisfaction or indirectly improve well-being through loneliness. Although support from friends did not have a significant impact on older adults’ well-being, it indirectly improved well-being through reduced loneliness. Findings have implications for programs or interventions targeting both parent -adult-child support and friends support and reducing rural older adults’ loneliness.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Su ◽  
Yuqiu Zhou ◽  
Jianqin Cao ◽  
Haina Wang

Abstract Purpose This study aimed to explore the relationship between social support, self-worth, self-reported health, and subjective well-being among the Chinese rural empty nest elderly, and whether self-worth and self-reported health affect these associations.Methods This cross-sectional study was performed from May 2017 to April 2018, the participants were 365 empty-nest elderly adults from rural areas of Chifeng City in Inner Mongolia. Data were collected with the General information questionnaire, Self-worth questionnaire for adults, Social Support Scale and Memorial University of New Found land Scale of Happiness. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediation hypothesis. Bootstrapping was performed to confirm the mediation effect. Hayes’s SPSS-PROCESS was used for testing the moderating effects.Results Self-worth showed significant correlations with social support, self-reported health and subjective well-being (all P<0.01).Bootstrapping indicated that the mediating role of self-worth was statistically significant. And self-reported health moderated the social support and subjective well-being association.Conclusions Self-worth and self-reported health are important targets for prevention and intervention for improving the subjective well-being of the rural empty-nest elderly.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Sinan Yildirim ◽  
Ziya Koruç

The current study focuses on the effect of transformational leadership on athletes’ performance in the mediation of psychological need satisfaction, burnout, competition anxiety, life satisfaction, and positive–negative affect. The sample consisted of 391 soccer players aged between 16 and 20 years. Six scales were used in this study: Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, Needs Satisfaction Scale, Athlete Burnout Measure, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Scale, and Sport Competition Anxiety Test. The method of Vallerand was preferred to measure performance, and structural equation modeling was employed to analyze data. The model data fit was also verified. It was found that the transformational leadership behaviors of coaches signally influence athletes’ performance either directly or indirectly. From another perspective, increasing the psychological health or well-being of  athletes has important effects on sport performance.


Author(s):  
Yi Liu ◽  
Jason Draper

Participants attending a festival(s) with children is a family activity that influences family relationships. This study examines the relationship between attending status (e.g., with or without children), event experience, subjective well-being, and family quality of life (FQOL). A total of 585 festival participants’ data analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that participants attending with children have a higher level of subjective well-being and FQOL compared to those without children. Participants attending with children have a higher level of cognitive engagement and experience novelty in festivals compared to those without children. Event experience results in a significant positive relationship with subjective well-being. This study expands current event literature in terms of FQOL and provides a practical guideline to event organizers to better understand the significance of festivals.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1905-1920
Author(s):  
Sushant Ranjan ◽  
Rama Shankar Yadav

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically validate items on social isolation. The comprehensive literature review of existing studies on the measures of social isolation, loneliness and the related construct was conducted. The paper seeks to conceptualize, validate and present items to measure social isolation. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on theoretical and empirical investigation of the measures of social isolation, loneliness and related constructs such as social others, social loneliness and feeling of sociability. The items were generated through theoretical exploration of previous literature and later modified. The author examined the items through exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and further checked for external criterion validity. Data collected from 128 individuals, in India, were examined to design and validate the scale. Findings The finding of the paper is a ten-item social isolation scale. Using structural equation modeling, we have found extraversion and well-being significantly associated with final items in the present study, confirming the external quality of the scale. Practical implications Organizations may benefit by close examination of the presence of social isolation in employees along with providing support and assistance to employees so as to reduce negative consequences of social isolation and can address the well-being of the employee. Originality/value There is a dearth of developed and validated measures of social isolation in the literature. The study reveals the conceptualization and empirical validation of measures of social isolation in the Indian context so that researchers can move forward to develop theories on social isolation.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. e0259280
Author(s):  
Säde Stenlund ◽  
Niina Junttila ◽  
Heli Koivumaa-Honkanen ◽  
Lauri Sillanmäki ◽  
David Stenlund ◽  
...  

Background The bidirectional relationship between health behavior and subjective well-being has previously been studied sparsely, and mainly for individual health behaviors and regression models. In the present study, we deepen this knowledge focusing on the four principal health behaviors and using structural equation modeling with selected covariates. Methods The follow-up data (n = 11,804) was derived from a population-based random sample of working-age Finns from two waves (2003 and 2012) of the Health and Social Support (HeSSup) postal survey. Structural equation modeling was used to study the cross-sectional, cross-lagged, and longitudinal relationships between the four principal health behaviors and subjective well-being at baseline and after the nine-year follow-up adjusted for age, gender, education, and self-reported diseases. The included health behaviors were physical activity, dietary habits, alcohol consumption, and smoking status. Subjective well-being was measured through four items comprising happiness, interest, and ease in life, and perceived loneliness. Results Bidirectionally, only health behavior in 2003 predicted subjective well-being in 2012, whereas subjective well-being in 2003 did not predict health behavior in 2012. In addition, the cross-sectional interactions in 2003 and in 2012 between health behavior and subjective well-being were statistically significant. The baseline levels predicted their respective follow-up levels, the effect being stronger in health behavior than in subjective well-being. Conclusion The four principal health behaviors together predict subsequent subjective well-being after an extensive follow-up. Although not particularly strong, the results could still be used for motivation for health behavior change, because of the beneficial effects of health behavior on subjective well-being.


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